Robert Chauncey Masterman was born on Thursday, 23rd Jan 1896 in Boxmoor, Hertfordshire and baptised two months later on Sunday, 29th March at St Paul’s Church in Hemel Hempstead. He was the second son and youngest child born to Henry Chauncy Masterman and Alice May Cotes who had four other children; Henry Everard, Mary Ellen, Nesta Cotes and Stella Marion. His older brother Henry died in 1893 aged only six.

The family lived at Nos. 1 & 2 Roughdown Villas near Boxmoor when Robert was born and his father was a practicing Solicitor and partner with Masterman and Everington in London. The Villas were originally built to house significant personnel of the London & North Western Railway of which Henry Masterman was a shareholder.

Robert entered Harrow School between Easter and Midsummer 1910 and whilst there joined the School Officer Training Corps (OTC) which would mark him out for a future commission. He played football, cricket, racquets and fives for his house at the school and was the recipient of an Oxenham Latin prize in 1913.

He suffered three family bereavements when at school; his grandmother Ellen died on the 29th December 1911 aged ninety-three, followed eight days later by his mother Alice on the 6th January 1912; finally, his father Henry died in Egypt, succumbing to illness in Cairo Hospital on the 22nd February 1913. This death left Robert and his three sisters, Mary, Nesta and Stella orphaned and the girls moved to Oxford to live with a maternal Uncle and Aunt.

On the outbreak of war Robert enlisted in the Army whilst still at Harrow, joining the Bedfordshire Regiment as  a Private in September 1914. Posted initially to the 7th (Service) Battalion (‘The Shiny Seventh’) to begin training he transferred briefly to the 6th (Service) Battalion shortly afterwards. Robert was gazetted on 28th November 1914 and in December he was discharged from the Bedfordshires with a view to gaining a commission.

During this time, he went up to Oxford University where he won the Harrow Scholarship at Hertford College and was accepted for admission. However, he did not matriculate having been promoted 2nd Lieutenant and immediately posted to 9th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. Robert joined his new battalion at Belton Park near Grantham and in April 1915 he moved to Witley Camp near Godalming in Surrey where his training was completed.

The Battalion was mobilised and sailed from Liverpool on the 5th July 1915, eventually disembarking at Suvla Bay. The landing at Suvla Bay commenced on the night of the 6th August 1915 as the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli. The landing was intended to support a breakout from the Anzac sector, but despite light opposition it was mismanaged from the outset and quickly reached stalemate.

Robert acted as Captain in Gallipoli but he was one of the thousands of men incapacitated by illness, in his case dysentery. Anecdotal evidence suggests that every man suffered from stomach problems at some time due to the unsuitability of rations and the heat. Officially statistics puts the number of ‘non-battle casualties’ in the Dardanelles during 1915 at 1,239.9 per 1,000. In effect every man became ill and many more than once.

Robert was invalided back to England in October and following time in hospital in Oxford he was fit enough to be reposted. He joined ‘C’ Company, 19th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers and went to France.

In late June the Battalion was at Black Horse Bridge, Authuille and at 2 a.m. on the 1st July it attacked at Thiepval. It was to pass through the 97th Brigade at Leipzig Redoubt and capture the German intermediate line at Mouquet Farm two miles to the north east. However, the assault only got as far as the Redoubt by which time the Battalion had lost eleven of twenty Officers and 270 of 577 men.

Robert was one of two officers killed during the initial advance on Saturday, 1st July 1916.

The battalion war diary noted, “Throughout the operation the Battalion behaved with the greatest steadiness, and the advance was carried out without hesitation on the part of the men – in spite of the intense artillery and machine gun enfilade fire.”

Following his death, Robert’s sister Marion received a letter for his Captain which said, “He was killed when leading his men to attack the enemy trenches. The ground we had to cross was swept by heavy machine gun fire and I am sorry to say that your brother was hit just before he got up to the enemy’s wire. He led his men with great dash and was such a brave fellow. He had not been with us long, but during that short time he had become most popular with us all.”

His death was reported in the Hemel Gazette two weeks after he was killed. (see extract)

Robert is Remembered with Honour on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France, Pier and Face 3C and 3D.

He was 20 years old when he died. Robert was entitled to the 1914-14 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.